Animal feed supplement containing co-sprayed dried plasma protein and amylase

ABSTRACT

A feed supplement is disclosed comprising animal plasma protein and a microbial fermentation product of primarily amylase which are blended and spray dried. Animals fed this supplement during the first seven weeks of life experienced an increase in average daily gain of 45%; an increase of feed intake of 7.3%; and an improved feed efficiency of 26% when compared with a control of feed supplemented with animal plasma protein alone.

This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/161,130 filed on Dec.3,1993 now U.S. Pat. 5,372,811.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It has long been known that the first few weeks of life for animals suchas calves or pigs are extremely critical. Often the animals are caughtby environmental and health stress, causing them to become weak anddehydrated. Traditionally this occurs during the early growth andweaning period. This condition is many times caused by the inability ofthe animal to assimilate nutritional elements from the intestine wherebyundigested nutrients will end up in the large intestine as a substratefor undesired intestinal bacteria flora which causes diarrhea in theanimal.

The total mortality from birth to weaning in normal pig production isgenerally as high as 20 to 25%. Many of these piglets that die are theobject of intense care as they are already underweight and under stressafter birth. When the young pig is weaned this is an additional stressfactor especially so for the lightest pigs from each litter of pigs.

At birth these pigs have limited enzyme systems efficient only fordigestion of milk. The amount of lactase, the enzyme which breaks downand digests milk sugar is high during the first few weeks of life butthen decreases shortly after weaning. Meanwhile proteolytic andamylolytic enzymes needed for grain digestion are not fully developeduntil 4 to 7 weeks of age. Thus feed stuffs other than milk cannot beefficiently digested and absorbed until the animal is several weeks old.Further, abrupt changes in diet and environment are stressful on ananimal's digestive system and under stress acids are produced whichinhibit natural enzyme production, further aggravating the delicatebalance of the system.

The newborn pig does not have a digestive system in which the enzymeswhich convert complex carbohydrates to glucose, which may be metabolizedfor energy, are operational. In fact the piglet is characterized ashaving an energy crisis until he is able to consume and digest complexcarbohydrates and proteins from feeds containing grain and proteinconcentrates. Thus without the essential enzymes to digest and convertseveral complex carbohydrates into glucose which may be readily used,the pig, suffering from low blood sugar, necessarily begins secondaryutilization of plasma amino acids for glucose and energy production.Consequently plasma amino acids and liver storage form of glucose,glycogen (animal starch) begin to be depleted.

Strangely enough giving pure sugar to a piglet which is experiencingthese hypoglycemic problems is one of the worse treatments possible. Thesugar is too rapidly absorbed (15 to 20 minutes) and causes anoverproduction of insulin which plunges the piglet into more severehypoglycemia than originally existed. The sugar provides an immediatebut extremely short lived improvement followed by an insulin responsewhich leaves the piglet worse off than before.

Amino acids and proteins can be converted into glucose very slowlyproviding long term relief from hypoglycemia and absorbed fatty acidscan substitute to a degree for glucose as energy providers withoutstimulation of insulin production.

Attempts to create a feed stuff for these animals which may bedigestible by combining the desired substrates with the enzyme neededfor digestion of the substrate, while seemingly an ideal answer to theproblem, have to date proved largely unsuccessful. One such productincluded supplemental enzymes from a microbial fermentation product in abarley and corn wheat based pig starter diet. This enzyme blend added tofeed was run in trials on 4-week old pigs and no differences in pigperformance due to enzyme supplement were seen. (C. W. Newman, et alImprovement of Pig Performance with Supplemental Enzymes and MicrobialFermentation Products, Abstract, Journal of Agricultural Science 292.Other studies done at Oklahoma State University experienced similarresults.

The present invention relates to an animal feed substance and for thefirst time providing a microbial fermentation product comprising ofamylase in combination with dried animal plasma protein. Pigs, when fedthe supplement of the present invention experienced a 40% increase ingain and a 30% better feed efficiency than pigs a control diet withanimal plasma protein in a normal pig starter ration.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a protein-enzymefeed supplement which will increase weight gain and feed efficiency foryoung animals.

Another object of the invention is to provide a combination of animalplasma protein with amylase which when spray dried together results in afeed supplement which will aid the growth rate of pigs and improve theirfeed efficiency.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention provides for the first time a dried animal plasma proteinenzyme supplement which works to increase weight gain and feedefficiency of the young pig. According to the present invention animalplasma protein is combined with a microbial fermentation product with asignificant level of amylase activity. The resulting combination is thenspray dried and added to feed of piglets from two to seven weeks oflife. The combination of protein, amylase and the process of spraydrying acts synergistically to provide a supplement which works betterthan feed with either of the components alone. Pigs so treated with thesupplemented food of the invention experienced significant increase inweight gain as well as a much improved feed efficiency compared with ananimal plasma protein supplemented control pig starter ration.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Amylase is a term for a class of enzymes which split or hydrolyzestarch. Basically the enzyme converts starch into maltose which may bereadily utilized by the animal for energy. Amylase is secreted by thepancreas and hydrolyzes internal α 1,4 linkages in starch to yieldmaltose. Maltose is then hydrolyzed by maltase into two glucoseresidues.

While not wishing to be bound by any theory, it is suspected that thepresence of spray dried animal plasma in the intestine activates orincreases activity of maltase and lactase allowing for increasedabsorption of these nutrients. Additionally for whatever reason the actof spray drying animal plasma and combining the animal plasma withamylase is shown to have drastic increases in weight gain the feedefficiency for pigs so fed. Traditional enzyme and even enzyme proteincombinations without spray drying experience no greater effects thantraditional feeding as recommended by the NRC (National ResearchCouncil) Nutrient Requirements of Swine, Ninth revised edition 1988.

Briefly according to the present invention animal plasma protein iscollected and prepared for spray drying using standard techniques. Thespray dried plasma is then co-dried with amylase (abacterial/fermentation residue containing amylase), in the amount ofapproximately 80 to 1200 grams of amylase to approximately 2000 poundsof dried plasma animal protein. The two ingredients are blended, putthrough a low heat flash spray dryer, added to traditional pig feedwhich is subsequently pelletized and then fed to pigs free choice.

The two basic components of the invention are generally known andcommonly available as well as the mechanism for spray drying. However,briefly, the mechanism of spray drying the plasma/amylase combination isas follows.

According to the present invention, plasma obtained from animal sourcesis co-spray dried with amylase to form a powder-like substance which isthen fed with other feed ingredients to young piglets. The plasma isobtained by collecting blood from animals, preferably pigs or cows. Forexample, blood is collected at slaughter plants. As it is collected, theblood is held in a circulating stainless steel tank with anticoagulantssuch as sodium citrate or sodium phosphate to avoid clotting. The wholeblood is then separated, likely by centrifugation into two parts,cellular material (red corpuscles, white corpuscles and platelets) andplasma. Plasma is composed of about 60% albumin and about 40% globulin.After separation the plasma is cooled to 45° F. to retard growth ofbacteria and stored in an insulated tanker until ready to dry.

The plasma component is then further concentrated 2 to 3 fold bymembrane filtration. At this stage the microbial fermentation extractcontaining primarily amylase is added. The mixture is blended for 10minutes and finally is co-dried to form a beige powdery substance. Spraydrying should occur at temperatures low enough to maintain the highlydigestible proteins but high enough to purify the dry powder eliminatingbacterial and viral contamination. Traditionally the drier inlettemperature of approximately 375° to 400° F. and an outlet temperaturefrom the drier is an estimated 180°-200° F. The resulting powderysubstance may then be combined with other feed ingredients for thedesired feeding regime.

Spray dried animal plasma protein has traditionally been used as a highquality protein used as a replacement for milk proteins due to its highquality protein and immunoglobulin content. This plasma has also beenused in the feed industry as a feed supplement ingredient for veal andcalf milk replacers, aquaculture and pet food for its influence onvoluntary feed intake and efficient gains equal to or better than milkproteins. The animal plasma protein powder contemplated for use in thisinvention is comprised of high levels of amino acids. A typical aminoacid assay of the powder by acid hydrolysis and subsequent columnchromatography results in the following amino acid concentrations ingrams per 100 grams of protein:

    ______________________________________                                                      From Beef                                                                             From Pork                                                             Sources Sources                                                 ______________________________________                                        Alanine         8.00      4.36                                                Aspartic Acid   10.07     9.21                                                Arginine        5.18      6.23                                                Cystine         1.08      3.24                                                Phenylalanine   5.10      5.36                                                Glycine         5.20      3.53                                                Glutamic Acid   11.91     12.81                                               Histidine       4.63      3.62                                                Isoleucine      2.90      2.84                                                Leucine         9.88      8.05                                                Lysine          8.93      8.83                                                Methionine      1.40      0.77                                                Proline         5.44      5.92                                                Serine          5.25      5.59                                                Threonine       5.90      5.98                                                Tryptophan      .74       1.93                                                Tyrosine        3.45      5.07                                                Valine          7.32      5.96                                                ______________________________________                                    

Chemical and other properties of the powdered protein include 70-80%protein, 7% moisture, 2% fat, 7% carbohydrates, pH 9, aqueous solubility90% minimum; salmonella negative, standard plate count less than 20,000per gram; and molecular weight range 40,000 to 820,000 daltons.

It is important to note that moisture levels must be kept at a minimumduring spray drying and the powder should be stored in moistureresistant containers.

Spray dried animal plasma is commercially available from several sourcesincluding American Meat Protein Corporation product AP920™.

As used in this invention the term amylase means microbial fermentationextract, from Bacillus subtilis which includes amylase as well as otherenzymes characteristic of the bacterial extract. Products as these arecommercially available from several sources including Hanson'sLaboratory, Inc., Agri Business Products Division, Milwaukee, Wis.(BIOMATE AMYLASE).

EXAMPLES

According to the present invention 2000 pounds of animal plasma wasco-dried with 400 grams of amylase (BIOMATE AMYLASE CHR Hanson's LabInc.) the resulting powder was then combined in a pig starter dietaccording to the NRC, Nutrient Requirements of Swine, Ninth revisededition 1988, which was then pelleted. Ration analysis is as follows:

                  TABLE 1                                                         ______________________________________                                        THE EFFECT OF AP920 ON PIG PERFORMANCE                                                       PHASE 1 (PIGS                                                  RATION ANALYSIS                                                                              FROM 21 to 31 DAYS OF AGE)                                     ______________________________________                                        CORN %            46.7    46.7                                                SOYBEAN MEAL      15.25   15.25                                               44%                                                                           WHEY %            20      20                                                  AP920%            8       --                                                  AP920 + (AMYLASE) %                                                                             --      8                                                   PROTEIN %         20      20                                                  LYSINE %          1.5     1.5                                                 CALCIUM %         0.85    0.85                                                PHOSPHORUS %      0.65    0.65                                                M.E.Kcal./lb      1460    1460                                                ______________________________________                                    

Piglets were then separated equally in 36 pens at random. Ninty 21day-old (immediately after weaning) pigs were fed a ration containingspray dried animal plasma (AP920) which was co-dried with amylase whilean additional 90 pigs were fed feed supplemented with spray dried animalplasma protein as the control pigs and were fed these rations for aperiod of 10 days.

The feeding results are shown in Table 2.

                  TABLE 2                                                         ______________________________________                                                      CONTROL SUPPLEMENTED                                            FEEDING RESULTS                                                                             (PIGS FROM 21-31 DAYS OF AGE)                                   ______________________________________                                        PENS/TRT.     18           18                                                 PIG/TRT.      90           90                                                 INITIAL WEIGHT                                                                              11.7 lbs     11.6 lbs                                                         (5.307003 kg)                                                                              (5.2616672 kg)                                     A.D.G.        0.53 lbs     0.77 lbs***                                                      (.24040376 kg)                                                                             (.34926584 kg)                                     FEED INTAKE   0.82 lbs     0.88 lbs                                                         (.3719 kg)   (.3991612856 kg)                                   FEED/GAIN     1.58         1.17***                                            ______________________________________                                         ***The treatments were significantly different at the <0.01 level        

As can be seen from Table 2, pigs which received the spray dried animalplasma which was co-spray dried with amylase increased average dailygain by 45%; increased feed intake by 7.3%; and improved feed efficiencyby 26% when compared with the control which was simply fed spray driedanimal plasma in the ration.

Additionally these numbers are highly significant when compared with theNational Research Counsel's Nutrient Requirement of Swine, Ninth RevisedEdition, 1988. performance for pigs of this weight. According to the NRCthe expected weight gain in grams per day for a 5 to 10 kg (5.3 kg) pigis 250 grams per day weight gain. Pigs treated with the spray driedanimal plasma supplemented traditional rations experienced approximatelythe normal weight gain of 240 grams per day. However those treated withthe animal plasma spray dried with amylase experienced a weight gain ofapproximately 350 grams per day. Additionally feed intake, expected tobe 460 kg per day, was less than expected at approximately 400 grams perday. Thus feed efficiency (feed/gain) expected to be 1.84 was actuallyimproved to 1.17.

Pigs which received the amylase in combination with animal plasma whichwas co-spray dried experienced better daily gain feed intake and feedefficiency than those which merely had the animal plasma by itselfindicating some sort of synergistic effect between the amylase andanimal plasma protein that is co-spray dried. Additionally pigs treatedwith the co-dried substance were significantly better performers andsurpassed the NRC estimates of performance on a similar ration.

The exact method earlier described was repeated on a group of 180 pigsfor a period of 3-6 weeks post weaning. One group of pigs received theanimal plasma and amylase which was merely blended and the other controlreceived a normal control ration. The results are seen in Table 3.

                  TABLE 3                                                         ______________________________________                                                         AMYLASE                                                                       BLENDED  CONTROL                                             ______________________________________                                        NUMBER OF PIGS     90         90                                              AVERAGE STARTING   12.7       12.7                                            WEIGHT LBS.                                                                   AVERAGE DAILY GAIN LBS.                                                                          0.917      0.917                                           FEED INTAKE LBS.   1.12       1.14                                            FEED/GAIN LBS.     1.22       1.26                                            ______________________________________                                    

Based on the data from this trial there was no difference in daily gain,feed intake or feed efficiency. Clearly the spray drying of the animalplasma protein and amylase is essential for the benefits of theinvention.

From the results it can be seen that when the amylase and the animalplasma protein are merely blended and not spray dried results are nodifferent from the control. Thus it can be deduced that there issomething significant for the invention in the process of spray dryingthe two products together.

Tables 4 and 5 disclose results of similar tests run on pigs withvarying levels of amylase per 2000 pounds of dried plasma.

                  TABLE 4                                                         ______________________________________                                        PIG PERFORMANCE (0-7 DAYS)                                                    ______________________________________                                        LEVEL OF*      0.0    0.5    1.0  1.5  2.0  2.5                               AMYLASE/TON                                                                   COMPLETE RATION                                                               # OF PIGS      24     24     24   24   24   24                                STARTING       13.67  13.70  13.68                                                                              13.71                                                                              13.65                                                                              13.57                             WEIGHT LBS.                                                                   A.D.G. LBS.    0.51   0.65   0.60 0.66 0.71 0.80                              FEED INTAKE    0.61   0.77   0.63 0.64 0.74 0.69                              LBS.                                                                          FEED/GAIN LBS  1.23   1.29   1.06 0.96 1.10 0.86                              ______________________________________                                         *1. is equal to 815,000 starch liquefying units/ton of ration                 ***+56% IMPROVEMENT IN AVERAGE DAILY GAIN.                                    ***+13% IMPROVEMENT IN FEED INTAKE.                                           ***+30% IMPROVEMENT IN FEED/GAIN RATIO.                                  

                  TABLE 5                                                         ______________________________________                                        PIG PERFORMANCE (0-14 DAYS)                                                   ______________________________________                                        LEVEL OF *     0.0    0.5    1.0  1.5  2.0  2.5                               AMYLASE/TON OF                                                                COMPLETE RATION                                                               # OF PIGS      24     24     24   24   24   24                                STARTING       13.67  13.70  13.68                                                                              13.71                                                                              13.65                                                                              13.57                             WEIGHT LBS.                                                                   A.D.G. LBS.    0.54   0.66   0.58 0.61 0.67 0.71                              FEED INTAKE    0.76   0.93   0.78 0.84 0.88 0.89                              LBS.                                                                          FEED/GAIN LBS  1.52   1.40   1.38 1.37 1.31 1.25                              ______________________________________                                         *1 is equal to 815,000 starch liquefying units/ton of feed                    ***+33% IMPROVEMENT IN AVERAGE DAILY GAIN.                                    ***+16% IMPROVEMENT IN FEED INTAKE.                                           ***+19.2% IMPROVEMENT IN FEED/GAIN RATIO.                                

As can be seen increasing levels of the amylase up to 2.5 per ton ofstarter feed experience a 56% improvement in average daily gain, 13%improvement in feed intake and 30% improvement in feed/gain ratio whenpigs were studied during the first 7 days of life with increasing levelsof amylase with a constant level of spray dried animal plasma protein.

Table 5 shows similar results for increasing amylase with constantplasma in pig performance evaluation from 0 to 14 days.

While not wishing to be bound by any theory, it is hypothesized that theact of co-spray drying the protein with the animal plasma places theamylase and plasma in a more bioavailable form thus improving foodutilization and daily gain.

Tables 6 and 7 disclose the effects of varying levels of co-dried animalplasma and amylase as compared to the total pig ration. Table 6discloses the ration analysis and table 7 discloses the performance ofpigs fed varying percentages of the supplement as compared to totalfood.

                  TABLE 6                                                         ______________________________________                                        RATION ANALYSIS                                                                              PHASE 1                                                        ______________________________________                                        AP920 and      0.0     2.5    5.0   7.5  10.0                                 *BIOMATE AMYLASE                                                              WHEY %         20      20     20    20   20                                   PROTEIN %      20      20     20    20   20                                   LYSINE %       1.5     1.5    1.5   1.5  1.5                                  CALCIUM %      0.84    0.84   0.84  0.84 0.85                                 PHOSPHORUS     0.65    0.65   0.65  0.65 0.65                                 M.E.Kcal/lb    1479    1477   1471  1464 1457                                 ______________________________________                                         *contains 815,000 starch liquefying units/ton of starter diet            

                  TABLE 7                                                         ______________________________________                                        RATION ANALYSIS                                                                              0-14 DAYS PERFORMANCE                                          ______________________________________                                        % AP920        0.0     2.5    5.0   7.5  10.0                                 NO. PIGS/TRT. 30                                                                             30      30     30    30                                        A.D.G. lbs.    0.40    0.41   0.51  0.64 0.62                                 FEED INTAKE lbs.                                                                             0.63    0.55   0.69  0.72 0.68                                 FEED/GAIN lbs. 1.64    1.53   1.38  1.13 1.10                                 ______________________________________                                    

As can be seen from results it appears the response in gain and feed togain ratio increases until the level of plasma at a constant amylaselevel reaches 7.5% in the ration and then it levels off. Thus it appearsthe ideal ration percentage is 7.5% of the ration. From all of theforegoing it can be seen the invention accomplishes at least all of itsobjectives.

What is claimed is:
 1. A feed supplement for animals comprising:aneffective amount of amylase; and animal plasma protein wherein theamylase and the animal plasma protein are co-spray dried together. 2.The feed supplement of claim 1 wherein said amylase and animal plasmaprotein are subjected to a heating element.
 3. A method of increasingweight gain and improving feed efficiency in young animalscomprising:feeding to said young animals an effective amount of asupplement comprising dried animal plasma protein combined with amylasewherein the dried animal plasma protein and the amylase are co-spraydried together.
 4. A method of improving feed efficiency and weight gainof young animals comprising:feeding to said young animals an effectiveamount of a supplement comprising amylase in combination with a driedanimal protein wherein the amylase and the dried animal protein areco-dried together.
 5. The method of claim 4 wherein said protein isplasma protein.
 6. A feed supplement for animals made by the processof:combining an effective amount of amylase with animal plasma proteinto form a mixture; and heating said mixture to a temperature sufficientto eliminate contamination yet also maintain protein structure, so thatsaid mixture is dried.
 7. The supplement of claim 6 wherein said step ofheating said mixture further comprises the step of:spray drying saidmixture.
 8. A method of improving feed efficiency and weight gain ofyoung animals comprising:feeding to said young animals an effectiveamount a heat dried supplement comprising amylase in combination withanimal plasma wherein said amylase and said animal plasma are co-driedtogether.